Fab Four Have Already Elevated Bruin Basketball Program to No. 1

UCLA established its basketball recruiting class as No. 1 in the country with last week’s announcement that 6-foot-11 center Omm’A Givens of Aberdeen, Wash., the West’s best center prospect, had chosen the Bruins over Arizona.

Givens became the fourth prep standout to give an unwritten commitment to UCLA, joining 6-5 swingman Toby Bailey of Loyola High, 6-8 forward J.R. Henderson of Bakersfield East and 6-5 forward Kris Johnson of Crenshaw High. All four are expected to sign letters of intent during the Nov. 10-17 signing period.

Talent evaluators Bob Gibbons of Lenoir, N.C.-based All Star Sports and Bob Jacoby of BlueChip Illustrated in Woodland Hills rank UCLA’s recruiting class No. 1 so far. According to Jacoby, other schools that have recruited well, based on unwritten commitments, include Duke, Indiana, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Houston.

The addition of Givens, who had earlier considered Kentucky, Michigan and Kansas but ended up visiting only UCLA and Arizona, would give the Bruins one of the few true center prospects in the class of ’94. It would also help offset the loss of 6-8 forward Mark Madsen of Danville, Calif., who chose Stanford over the Bruins three weeks ago. Madsen cited Stanford’s academic reputation and proximity to his East Bay home as the primary reasons for his decision.

Givens and Henderson, who had committed to UCLA in August, visited Westwood Oct. 8-10. They attended the UCLA-Brigham Young football game at the Rose Bowl, along with 6-6 point guard Jelani Gardner of Bellflower St. John Bosco.

The Bruins would like to give their fifth and final scholarship to Gardner. He has visited Arizona State and Arizona, and has a trip scheduled to Arkansas Oct. 31 to watch the Hogs’ “Midnight Madness” practice session. Though Gardner has said repeatedly that he plans to wait until April to sign, and possibly take trips to Syracuse, California and Minnesota, indications lately are that he may be ready to sign next month with UCLA or Arizona State.

Gardner had told friends that one factor favoring the Sun Devils was the possibility of playing alongside Maceo Baston, a 6-9 forward from Dallas who visited Arizona State with Gardner. However, Baston informed Sun Devil coaches Wednesday that he has decided to sign with Michigan.

Notes

USC Coach George Raveling had a home visit recently with 6-foot-6 forward Tremaine Fowlkes of Crenshaw. Fowlkes, who is awaiting results of his Oct. 9 Scholastic Aptitude Test, has narrowed his choices to USC, Cal, Arizona, Kansas and Syracuse. Coaches at USC and Cal believe they have a good chance to sign Fowlkes. If he passes the SAT (results are expected within two weeks), Fowlkes would like to take at least two recruiting trips and make his decision in November. . . . Add Trojans: USC is no longer recruiting guards Jason Pickett of Wilmington Banning and Jeremy Veal of San Dimas. Besides Fowlkes, the Trojans are hopeful of signing 6-3 shooting guard Kent McCausland of Waterloo, Iowa, to join 6-foot point guard Cameron Murray of Glendora, who committed last month. McCausland, whose father, Mac, is a TV commentator on University of Iowa basketball broadcasts, visited USC a few weeks ago. He is also considering Iowa, Ohio State and Tennessee. . . . Add Veal: He visited Arizona State last weekend and also is considering Loyola Marymount, Long Beach State, Providence, Southern Methodist and Santa Clara.

Pepperdine has received an unwritten commitment from 6-1 guard R.J. Powell of Carmel High. The Waves, who lose four projected starters after this season, plan to sign five players. On their priority list is 6-8 forward Josh Merrill of University High in San Diego. Merrill, who also plays quarterback on the football team, visited Pepperdine two weeks ago. Loyola Marymount is also recruiting Merrill, and Indiana has shown some interest. Pepperdine also had an official visit recently from 6-7 forward Ted Kritza of Colorado Springs, who committed to Colorado. Two players the Waves would love to sign are 6-3 guard Jamie Gillin of Compton Dominguez and 6-5 guard Reggie McFerren of Crenshaw High. Gillin, who committed to USC recently before he and the Trojan coaching staff had a change of heart, has narrowed his choices to Washington State, Long Beach State, Wyoming and Pepperdine. McFerren’s list includes Pepperdine, Washington and Kansas State.

Some recent commitments:

* Promising 6-10 center Mike Carson of Chino Don Lugo chose Oregon over Arizona State.

* Tommie Davis, a 5-8 point guard from Crenshaw, picked Houston over Boston College, Providence and Long Beach State. Houston has also received commitments from three top Houston-area prospects: 7-2 center Adrian Taylor, 6-8 forward Galen Robinson and 6-3 guard Damon Jones.

* David Rickenbacker, a 6-4 forward from Manual Arts, and Pharoah Davis, a 6-5 forward from Palmdale, will attend San Diego State. Rickenbacker recently began playing football and has already become a standout tight end-linebacker for the Toilers.

* Leif Nelson, a 6-10 center from Riverside Arlington, chose Nebraska.

* Besides 6-6 guard Rick Price of Gardena Serra, Duke also received a commitment from 5-10 Steve Wojciechowski of Baltimore, who chose the Blue Devils over North Carolina and Wake Forest. Duke is now well-fortified for the future at guard, with Price, Wojciechowski and 6-4 Trajan Langdon of Anchorage, Alaska, having made commitments. They will join 6-4 Jeff Capel, a freshman at the school.

* Jeff Dayton of Kansas City, a 6-3 shooting guard, became Cal’s first recruit. However, the Golden Bears lost three top prospects: 6-9 center-forward Donnell Harris of Salinas, Calif., who became the second player to commit to Arizona, joining 6-4 guard Miles Simon of Santa Ana Mater Dei; 6-8 forward Maurice Taylor of Detroit, who chose Michigan, and 6-4 guard Tarik Turner of Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., who picked St. John’s. Another top recruit who is considering Cal, 6-8 forward Chester Surles of Saginaw, Mich., is expected to announce soon that he will attend Nebraska, according to a source.

* Todd MacCulloch of Winnipeg, Canada, a 6-11 center who emerged as a top prospect during the summer, chose Washington over Notre Dame and Nebraska.

* Allen Edwards, a 6-4 point guard from Miami who is the brother of Atlanta Hawks rookie forward Doug Edwards and current University of Miami sophomore guard Steve Edwards, chose Kentucky over Miami, Florida, Missouri and Boston College.

* Jermaine Watts of Tucson, a 6-1 guard, committed to DePaul during a visit last weekend. He had also been considering Washington.

* Ryan Bowen of Ft. Madison, Iowa, who visited Arizona, decided to attend Iowa. Bowen is a 6-8 forward.

More hoops: Basketball-football standout Tony Gonzalez of Huntington Beach High made an official visit to Arizona last weekend, then dropped by Arizona State for an unofficial visit. The 6-6 Gonzalez plans to play both sports in college and will probably sign a football letter with the Wildcats. He has a trip scheduled to Cal Oct. 30-31, and may also visit Arizona State again before signing. . . . 6-10 center Alex Lopez of North Hollywood Campbell Hall has narrowed his choices to Washington and Stanford. He’ll take an official trip to Palo Alto if he is accepted academically. Lopez eliminated Tulane after a recent visit. . . . Jason Hartman, a 6-7, 215-pound forward from Thousand Oaks, is trying to decide between Loyola Marymount and Washington. Insiders say the Lions have the edge. . . . Keith Closs, a 7-2 center from Baldwin Park Sierra Vista, is being recruited by Long Beach State, Sacramento State, Oregon State and Oral Roberts. The rail-thin Closs, who has grown almost a foot in three years, will sign in the spring. . . . Jermaine Avie, a 6-7, 240-pound forward from Eastern Utah junior college in Price, Utah, has enrolled at UC Irvine. Avie, a Houston native, had signed a letter of intent with the University of Houston before an academic technicality voided his letter.

Football report: Two former Dorsey High standouts, wide receiver-kick returner Keyshawn Johnson (6-3, 200) and linebacker Reynaldo (Skeets) Spalding (6-3, 220), have become top community college prospects at West L.A. College. Johnson is being recruited by USC, Washington (he’s scheduled to visit Nov. 26-27), Tennessee, Alabama, Miami, Cal and Nevada, among others. Spalding has drawn interest from Oklahoma State, Washington State, Nevada, Iowa, Nevada Las Vegas, Missouri, Mississippi State, San Diego State and Utah.